


Everywhere and Nowhere

by mobheroacademia



Category: Game Grumps, SuperMega Show
Genre: Abandonment, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Punk, Eating Disorders, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Punk Dan Avidan, Punk!Dan Avidan, Recreational Drug Use, Ross O'Donovan Has ADHD, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Harm, Skateboarding, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:53:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26148994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mobheroacademia/pseuds/mobheroacademia
Summary: Dan Avidan was an outcast to say the least. Anyone who may have wanted to befriend him was deterred by his spike-studded jacket, chain and razor jewelry, and patch-covered jeans. If that didn't do the job, then the rumors about him that were passed from clique to clique would surely drive away any last soul that may have been strong enough to talk to him.Dan was okay with that, though. After all, everyone around him was juvenile--stuck in their own head. He had no reason to befriend them. All he needed was his weed, his skateboard, and his switchblade. Dan was an impenetrable chamber of secrets with no reason to open up. Things were fine as they were, he could block things out.At least, that was until he met an underclassman who challenged the world as he knew it.*THIS IS PURELY A WORK OF FICTION, DO NOT FORCE SHIPS ONTO REAL PEOPLE*
Relationships: Dan Avidan & Brian Wecht, Dan Avidan/Arin Hanson
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	1. I Don't Need Society - D.R.I

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I am,,, nervous to post this. I hope y'all like it, though! Leave feedback in the comments, I love to see what you guys think about my writing!

Dan Avidan watched the cars pass as he sped down the sidewalk on his skateboard. The disapproving glares shot at him from middle-aged moms and old men only made him more confident. Music was blaring through his headphones, loud angry music that fueled his energy for the day. He stopped at a light and pressed the button to the crosswalk, his right foot slamming down on the tail of his skateboard to pop it up so he could hold it while he waited.

Dan’s head nodded subtly to the tune of his music, the distorted guitar of “Abolish Government/Silent Majority” by T.S.O.L. screeching to silence to end the song, immediately followed by “Police Truck” by Dead Kennedys. The pedestrian light flickered to show he could cross. Dan immediately hopped back on his board and in one push he was riding across the asphalt.

This was nothing new to him, Dan skated to school every day. However, this was his first time going this route in a while. After all, summer had just ended the previous day. It was now the first day of his junior year. It was only a few more turns, a few more streets until he made it to the school.

The dingy building was home to many cliques; friend groups huddled in circles at the rotting picnic tables in front of the school, the athletic kids laughing near the flagpole. Dan just breezed past, an uncomfortable feeling creeping up his spine as he felt lingering eyes on him. He should be used to that by now. He shrugged the feeling off, checking his phone for a second as he popped his skateboard up again to hold it in the halls. As Dan walked through the linoleum hallway past rows of lockers, more and more eyes latched onto him, people turning around to whisper to their friends, some even trying to back away or distance themselves from him.

Dan couldn’t allow himself to give a shit, though. He knew if he did it would break him, so instead he just created a shell. Who gave a shit if people stared? Who cared if people hated him? They were all just a bunch of brainwashed teenagers obsessed with their reputation and appearance. Dan couldn’t help but chuckle to himself at that as he finally reached his locker. He’d had the same one since freshman year, right near the exit at the back of the school’s main hall.

His locker was probably the only one in school that had a padlock instead of a combination lock. The key to the lock was on his wallet chain, somewhere Dan knew he’d never lose it. What was the point in remembering numbers if you’d always have the key to your lock on you anyways? He opened his locker for what seemed like the first time in a decade. It really had been a long summer.

Dan sighed, running his hand through his frizzy hair. His first period was English, right? After that he had Algebra 2, then two other classes he couldn’t even remember. Whatever, there was no way he was gonna carry around all his books just to be prepared for two dumb classes. He put all his textbooks into his locker besides his English and Algebra 2 book, loading those ones into his backpack.

“Wow, you’re actually bringing textbooks to class this year? What a shocker,” a monotone voice said sarcastically behind him.

Dan sighed, rolling his eyes, “What do you want, fuckface?”

“Eat dicks.”

“You know I fucking do,” Dan felt a small smile creep onto his face as he turned around, “Hell were you all summer?”

“I already told you I did an internship over summer,” Dan’s best friend, Brian scoffed.

“Nerd.”

“Whatever. What classes do you have?”

“Uhh I think I have English, then Algebra, then some other stuff I can’t remember,” Dan said as he closed up his locker again, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

“Ah, seems about right that you already forgot your classes,” Brain laughed, “Well I don’t know about the rest of the day but I at least know we’ll have Algebra together.”

“Great, you’ll give me all the answers then,” Dan smiled, starting to walk to his first class alongside Brian.

“Well, that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing the past five years,” shrugged Brian.

“And you’ll be doing it for the next two as well, I refuse to be a high school dropout,” Dan folded his arms.

“I dunno, man, by the looks of it you’re halfway there,” Brian nudged him.

“Shut up, you look like a burnt-out community college professor and you’re only 16,” Dan shot back, earning a laugh from Brian.

They arrived at the staircase that led to the senior classes--of course  _ Brian  _ was in senior classes. “See ya later, Danny,” Brian waved as they parted ways. Dan offered a nod before he headed farther down the hallway to find his English classroom.

As soon as he entered all eyes were on him, the class quieting slightly as people tried to pretend they weren’t intently watching him, trying to figure out where he was going to sit—where to avoid. Dan rolled his eyes. Everyone in this school really seemed to hate him for no fucking reason, huh. Unless, of course, a new rumor had spread without him hearing about it. Yeah, that was probably it.

Dan tossed his bag down next to the desk at the far right corner of the classroom; he took the last row, of course. He sunk into his seat as people resumed what they were doing, some people even going so far as to move their stuff to a desk farther away from Dan’s. Dan propped his skateboard on the legs of the desk, immediately going to fidget with his pencil so he didn’t have to just sit with a blank face.

He started to observe the class, trying to gauge what he was going to have to put up with this year. He recognized a few kids; there was Matt, a lanky kid who was relatively popular due to his sense of humor. Dan and Matt had used to be friends in elementary school but grew apart at the end of middle school. Dan started smoking weed and became an outcast while Matt found a place within the school’s popular clique.

Dan scoffed, glaring at Matt briefly before resuming his observations. He recognized another kid, Ross. He was a kind of jittery kid who didn’t talk to many people, though he was rumored to be super chaotic and rebellious around people he was comfortable with. The only reason Dan really knew him was because he’d transferred from Australia the in freshman year and it was the only thing people talked about for a solid 2 weeks. Nothing much interesting there.

There weren’t many other noteworthy people, a few kids stood out, but Dan either already knew they were fake as hell or just boring when you get to know them. This class probably wouldn’t be too horrible.

Finally the bell rang and everyone settled into their seats, whispers still being exchanged among friend groups. Dan was pleased to see the only seat left was the one next to him. At least he wouldn’t have to sit next to any annoying pricks that tried to mess with him.

Finally, the teacher started talking and Dan zoned out immediately, only for his trance to be broken under a minute later when the classroom door slammed open.

A disheveled-looking boy stumbled in, strands of hair falling out of his messy ponytail and sticking to his face that was beading with sweat. He was clutching two books to his chest and was desperately trying to catch his breath. Dan’s focus immediately fixed onto this unfamiliar face, trying to get a reading on him. The boy suddenly realized how much attention he’d drawn to himself and his face went red. He stood more upright, brushing hair out of his face as he scanned the room for a seat, his face only seeming to flush more when he saw that the only seat left was next to Dan.

The boy nervously made his way to the desk and he sat down almost  _ cautiously _ , as if he was afraid one wrong movement would be the end of his life. Poor kid was probably terrified of Dan, but then again, pretty much everyone was. The teacher resumed her lecture and Dan turned to observe the boy once more.

The boy had chestnut-colored shoulder-length hair with a bleached streak on the right side of his middle-part. He seemed pretty plain overall, Dan noted as he watched the boy fumble to get his textbook and notebook out. He wore a black long sleeved shirt with some black and white graphic of an anime on it, paired with a plain pair of straight-cut jeans. The boy’s backpack was tattered, as if it had been in use for many years without being replaced. It was still open, slumped over with the contents spilling out onto the classroom floor. Dan risked a glance, seeing what looked to be a blue sketchbook and a--a hentai manga?!

Suddenly the bag was snatched away, the boy sending him a brief glare before he stuffed his pencil case in the bag and zipped it up. Dan rolled his eyes, going back to… well, he didn’t have much to do but actually listen to the teacher drone on, right?

Nah, that was… something was still nagging at him. Dan turned to the boy again, tapping on his desk lightly to catch his attention.

“Hey,” Dan whispered when the boy finally looked at him.

“Wh-What do you want?” the boy said back in a hushed voice, nervously glancing over at the teacher to see if she was paying attention to them.

“Chill out, she doesn’t care,” Dan shrugged, “What’s your name?”

“Dude, I’m-’m not gonna fuckin get in trouble because of you,” the kid growled back, leaning away to show that the conversation was over.

Dan didn’t wanna take no as an answer though, he kept persisting, “I asked you a fucking question,” he hissed, only to be ignored. Yeah, that wasn’t gonna fly. He wasn’t going to be fucking  _ ignored  _ by this absolute  _ nobody _ . Did this kid even know who he was?

Dan felt something akin to fury balling inside of him as he sat back and started to formulate a plan. He wanted to make this fucker pay.


	2. Nothing Left Inside - Black Flag

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i promise the good stuff is coming soon, i gave y'all a little egobang content in this chapter 😌 as a treat

Dan wouldn’t say he considered himself a patient person. No, if anything he was the opposite. That was probably how his bad reputation got its start--he’d been aggressive ever since grade school. Once he started actually  _ looking  _ the part people really started to fear him. You’d think being labelled as a thug and treated as such for so long would have desensitized him to people avoiding him.

Still, something about this kid set Dan off more than it should have. He was fuming as he threw his skateboard down and started to skate to his algebra class, any care or consideration of school policy thrown to the wind.

“Stupid blonde streak--hentai-reading goody-two-shoes  _ FUCK!”  _ Dan huffed as he stomped into class, giving his skateboard a light shove and letting it thud against the leg of a desk. He was one of the first people in the classroom, but of course Brian was already taking a seat on the far side of the classroom in one of the back rows. Dan sighed, giving his board another shove in Brian’s general direction before he slumped into the seat next to his friend.

“Damn, and it’s only 2nd period. What happened, someone called your jacket ugly?” Brian mocked Dan’s sour mood, earning a middle finger unceremoniously shoved in his direction.

Dan couldn’t be bothered to pay attention for the whole rest of the class. How could he? Some stupid kid-maybe even an  _ underclassman _ \- had disrespected  _ him, Dan Avidan _ .

This kid obviously had to be shown his place, he had to learn that Dan wasn’t to be fucked with. Everyone else left Dan alone. Everyone avoided him, feared him,  _ hated  _ him, and then this clueless kid decided to-to talk to him like he was just some regular teenager? It didn’t make sense!

Dan rolled his board so that it tapped Brian in the ankle. “Wanna skip next period?” he whispered hopefully, almost shyly.

“Man, it’s the first day, I can’t be skipping this soon. Maybe some other day,” Brian ran a hand through his hair.

“Buzzkill,” Dan murmured, feeling his heart sink a little bit.

Dan’s schedule was still in his locker. He didn’t even know what class he was skipping when he trudged to the 2nd story hallway previously reserved for study hall before the new wing was built. He’d be caught in an instant if he exited the school through one of the main wings. Here, though… Dan reached the window at the very end of the hall, grabbing ahold of the protruding plastic on the sides.

Dan did a once-over of the hall to ensure no one was occupying the old study-hall rooms; then, in one swift movement, he pushed the window in and up, hearing the plastic splintering as the window opened. He’d been sneaking out this way since freshman year and that window still remained unrepaired.

The school’s main dumpster sat right against the wall where the window was, the sad plastic container making the fall from the 2nd story a carefree jump. Dan had propped his skateboard up against a worn wooden bench that sat all by its lonesome in the abandoned hall. Dan pushed his bag out the window and climbed out after it, taking a moment to sit on the windowsill and let his legs hang off the edge of the building. He wondered how far the fall would be if the dumpster wasn’t there. How far would the fall be from the 3rd story? The roof?

Dan shrugged off the thought, pushing himself off the ledge and landing on the hard plastic of the dumpster, the resulting rattling noise making him jump from the sheer volume. Yeah, he hadn’t missed that.

Dan reached into his backpack to look for something to lift his spirits. The bent tinfoil cylinder at the bottom of his bag made him perk up right away.

“Please be full please be full please be-”

Just his luck. There was no weed left in the makeshift bowl. Dan closed his eyes and ran a hand through his wild curls, trying to ease the tension from his veins. That’s when he heard a voice.

“Arin.”

“What-” Dan jumped, his heart rate spiking as he opened his eyes. There he was--the boy from earlier--lifting himself up onto the dumpster lid to accompany him. “What do you want?” Dan hissed, trying to suppress the rage that bubbled up inside him.

“You asked my name earlier. It’s Arin.”

Something about the boy--Arin--seemed different. More chill. Dan let his guard down a bit.

“Thought you said you didn’t wanna get in trouble. What’re you doing here?” Dan huffed, turning away so he wouldn’t have to make eye contact.

“I come here to draw,” Arin shrugged.

“Since when?” Dan’s defensiveness kicked up once again, his body tensing.

“Since now,” he answered simply, setting his bag down and retrieving a sketchbook out of it. They sat there in silence for a few minutes, Dan trying to decipher the situation while Arin calmly sketched.

“What are you trying to do?” Dan asked abruptly, turning to make eye contact with Arin again.

“Draw?” Arin quipped, playfully raising his eyebrows.

“Hey-Hey, don’t play with me. Did someone put you up to this? Try to find out my weakness or something?” Dan gripped a fistful of Arin’s shirt. This apparently surprised the boy, because he instinctively flinched and went to shield his face.

Dan’s brain would’ve short-circuited if it could’ve, the cogs were turning as he tried to decipher Arin. He was so used to putting people in boxes, writing people off as one thing or another. This boy just… didn’t fit in anywhere. It’s like he was everywhere and nowhere.

Dan let go of Arin’s shirt, feeling a little spike of pain in his heart when the boy’s eyes met his once more, now full of fear and submissiveness. “Why are you doing this,” Dan said, his jaw clenching.

“Doing  _ what?” _ Arin said, his voice weak, almost pleading. He seemed genuinely confused.

Something cold crept up Dan’s spine. Wait, was he in the wrong here? Was  _ Dan  _ the bad guy? A lump formed in his throat.

“I-I’m sorry,” Dan swallowed thickly, his whole body feeling frigid, like fractals of ice were spreading through his core, an unfriendly reminder of the cruel person he really was. “I’m sorry, I have to go,” Dan’s trembling hand grabbed for the strap of his bag.

Arin’s hand latched onto his own and his eyes met Arin’s for a moment. “Don’t go,” Arin hoarsely whispered, sounding like he was on the verge of tears. Dan couldn’t stand looking at him. Arin looked so helpless… so pitiful and desperate.

Dan yanked his hand away and left as hastily as he could.


	3. Whimper - Microwave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for self-harm and panic attacks! be safe reading this :( <3

Arin was left there, alone.

What had he done wrong?

He was only trying to be nice.

He was trying to reach out to someone, someone he could tell was struggling.

Arin folded into himself, pulling his knees up to his chest as far as he could and burying his face in the gap between his knees and chest.

Here he was, alone again. Always alone.

The wind blew softly, the trees that hung over the pavement clearing rustling, their shady cover being penetrated by rays of sun momentarily before returning back to normal.

It felt like everyone always left.

First it was his mom, then his elementary school friends, then him when he had to change schools. Things were looking up in middle school until his only friend at the time abandoned him when he came out. Now here he was, a complete loser. Near the end of his freshman year he’d made a friend, sure, but he was still always scared Ross would leave like everyone else.

And now, the one time he really tried, he reached out to a fellow reject, treated him like a normal person instead of treating him like some kind of  _ disease  _ like everyone else did it just…

Arin felt a sob wrack his body. Things always turned out like this.

\-----

As soon as Dan determined himself to be far enough away from Arin he slumped down against the brick wall of the school, letting out a heavy sigh. He ran his fingers through his curly hair, trying to take in everything that had just happened.

His hands were shaking, a cold sweat covering his body. What had even  _ happened  _ back there? It was like he was possessed by something, something that wasn’t him overtook his body. There was no way that was him, he wouldn’t… He wasn’t the type to scare people like that. Sure, he liked to intimidate people, frighten them a bit to get them to stay away, but something about the way Arin looked at him. The pure, unbridled  _ fear  _ in his eyes.

Dan shook the memory out of his head. Dan didn’t want to think of how  _ he  _ was the cause of it. He didn’t want to think of how helpless and scared that poor sophomore was feeling, now all alone.

Something icy suddenly shot through Dan’s midsection. He’d left Arin alone. Sure, he was a sophomore, probably 15 years old; it’s not like he would be unable to come up with an excuse to a teacher about what he was doing skipping class, but… Something felt off.

Something didn’t sit right about leaving him alone after that. Dan knew that Arin’s reaction wasn’t normal. The way he flinched, the way he grabbed at Dan and pleaded not to be left alone…

Fuck.

Dan scrambled to get back up, started to walk back around the school to find Arin. He broke into a sprint halfway, his mind flooding with the worst-possible scenarios.

As soon as he rounded the corner to the clearing where the dumpster was Dan’s heart sank and he rushed to Arin as quickly as he could.

Arin was hunched over, clearly shaking. His face was flushed red and fat tears rolled down his face. That wasn’t the most concerning part to Dan, though.

Arin’s left sleeve was rolled up, and something metal glinted in his right hand, carefully positioned above his other arm.

“Arin!” Dan called out, hoping he could stop Arin in time, praying to anything--any force in the world--desperately hoping Arin hadn’t hurt himself yet.

The boy jumped, almost broken out of a trance when he heard his name being called. His gaze snapped over to look at Dan, who was rushing over to him. Arin scrambled back, probably fearing Dan was coming back to hurt him.

As soon as Dan was a few feet away from the edge of the dumpster he slowed down, gasping for breath but trying to sound as calm and controlled as he could.

“Arin-Arin I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean to yell at you like that I’m sorry, please don’t-” he said, his voice trembling as he approached Arin.

Arin was still crying, trying to press his lips together to mask the fact his bottom lip was trembling. Another sob wracked his body as he curled in on himself again. He didn’t know what he wanted, he didn’t know if he was scared of Dan or just grateful he’d come back.

Dan climbed onto the dumpster, hoping he wouldn’t frighten Arin more. “Listen, Arin, please. Please just put down the blade.”

Arin complied, the small metal razor making a  _ ‘clink!’  _ when it collided with the plastic lid of the dumpster.

Dan immediately felt relief wash over his body. He opened his arms for a hug, “I-I understand if you don’t wanna be touched but-” he was cut off when Arin practically  _ lunged  _ into his arms, finally letting it all out. He sobbed into the fabric of Dan’s shirt, his hands desperately grabbing at his denim jacket.

Dan let his arms rest around Arin’s, his right hand rubbing circles into the hysterical boy’s back while his left hand stroked his soft hair. Without thinking, he pressed a kiss to the top of Arin’s head.


	4. Say It Ain't So - Weezer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is boring i'm sorry it's mostly setup :')

They didn’t mention it after that. Once Arin calmed down Dan had made sure he was okay before they departed to make it to their next classes in time. Dan had to stop by his locker to get his schedule just to know what class to head to next. He made his way to the 2nd floor to grab his skateboard from where he’d left it at the window, and from there went to his next class--an elective.

Here was the thing, though, Dan never filled out the class registry so he always got stuck with the worst electives. He narrowed his eyes at his schedule.

_ Animation  _ and  _ Advertising _ .

Animation was something Dan wasn’t interested in in the slightest. Advertising, however… Dan wouldn’t have too much of a problem with that. He always figured if he had to get a real job-- _ if he wasn’t dead by the time he was 20 _ \-- he’d be an advertising major.

Dan smiled to himself. At least he didn’t get stuck with chorus like last year.  _ That fucking teacher _ … Dan shuddered, remembering the teacher constantly fawning over him, always asking him to do solos and become more active in the class. Sure, he had a decent voice, but it wasn’t  _ that  _ good.

Dan walked to his animation class, preparing for the worst; some dried-up dude who knew nothing about computers and insisted on everyone learning hand-drawn cell animation or something like that. Dan made his way to the third-story where almost all the elective classes were held.

When he entered the classroom he felt his heart skip a beat.  _ Arin _ . Of course that idiot would have animation as an elective--the sketchbook, the manga, it all made sense… Dan felt shame wash over him again as he remembered how terrible he was to the younger boy.

Arin, however, perked up when he saw Dan, a smile on his face as he waved him over.

_ ‘Alright,’  _ Dan sighed to himself, mentally preparing himself for whatever was to come,  _ ‘Let’s do this.’ _

He walked over, taking the seat next to Arin and giving him a little nod of acknowledgement. He took a moment to observe the tables they were at. The tables could seat two people and were organized in three columns with a few rows of tables leading to the back of the classrooms. Atop the tables were the classic, cheap, district-mandated desktops that every school had, but what stood out was the rather high-quality tablet that sat next to the computers.

Arin took notice of Dan’s interest in the tablet because he immediately started spewing information, “I’m so excited for this class, man, animation is like-like my fucking  _ dream _ . These tablets, too, they’re pretty sweet. Not as good as, like, say, a cintiq, but they’re pretty sick for the ones we get at school! Usually they have those super cheap ones and they don’t even have enough to go around…” he seemed to have a sudden epiphany, “Shit! Danny, I didn’t know you liked animation!”

“I don’t,” Dan deadpanned, but when he saw Arin’s face fall he added, “I mean, not really… I just got assigned this class by chance.”

“Oh you’re gonna love it! Probably. I’m not sure,” Arin gave a little pout, staring off as in deep thought before the bell rang.

Dan’s attention was directed to the front of the class where the teacher seemed to be emerging from a supply closet behind the desk. He was trying to balance multiple binders and failing pretty bad. He let them fall onto his desk, a loud noise erupting as they made impact.

“Alrighty, looks like we have a pretty small class…” he started, glancing over the room that had around 12 students, “I’m Mr. C, I’ll be your animation teacher. Some of you may also know me from digital media, graphic design, you know the drill.”

And  _ wow _ , Dan’s assumption of what this teacher would be like was  _ wrong.  _ As far off as he could possibly be. While Dan had assumed the teacher would be a dull, unenthusiastic man in his late 50’s, instead he was greeted with a tired-looking 20-something-year-old with neon green hair that was shaven on the sides and spiked up to form a mohawk. His oversized gray shirt was tucked nicely into his straight-cut camo pants, a neat contrast to the cut-off and fraying sleeves of the shirt.

There was no fucking way. Dan blinked. He blinked again.  _ This teacher was fucking punk. _ Oh  _ hell _ yeah. Animation didn’t seem so bad.

“Alrighty, now let’s go through the roll call,” the teacher sighed, picking up a clipboard from his desk. He started calling out names, receiving a  _ ‘here’  _ or  _ ‘present’ _ after every name. For once, Dan felt like he would be  _ safe _ . Something about being in this small class, having a cool teacher that wouldn’t judge him for his looks, having Arin next to him… It all felt… nice.

The class took off from there, the teacher ran through the basics of the program they were working with, the class rules, rules about using the tablets, all the typical first day stuff. All the while Arin was chatting with Dan, seemingly having taken a liking to him, and, you know what? Dan didn’t find him half as annoying as he did at first.

“You really lucked out with this as your elective,” Arin nudged Dan once the bell rang, signifying lunch hour.

“I guess I did,” Dan nodded, “You’re a sophomore, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So this is probably the only class we have together--that is, other than English.”

“Yeah, to be honest I don’t even know why I’m in an 11th grade English class. Something weird with my placement tests,” Arin shrugged, “Anyways the only thing we could have together would be the other elective, and I highly doubt you have  _ advertising,”  _ he sighed, exasperated.

“Are you shitting me?” Dan scoffed, “You have advertising? Fifth period?”

Arin nodded.

“That’s fucking  _ unreal _ , dude,” Dan barked out a laugh.

“So do you have anywhere you normally go for lunch?” Arin asked, grabbing his bag and getting ready to follow Dan like some kind of baby duck that had imprinted on him.

Dan grimaced for a second, “Listen, man, you’re cool and all, but I don’t know if I’m the best person for you to be hanging out with. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly in high social standing. I don’t want you getting bullied just for being around me, got it?”

Arin went from looking like a puppy that had just been kicked to having a flame of anger ignited in him, “Wait, what do you mean? If you don’t want me around just tell me. You don’t have to make up excuses like that.”

“Listen,  _ kid _ , you don’t wanna spend time with me, alright?! Everyone who does just gets hurt, and I don’t want that to happen to you!” Dan hissed back at him.

“Is something going on here?” they were interrupted by Mr. C. Oh yeah, that’s right, they hadn’t even left the fucking classroom yet. They probably shouldn’t have been arguing right in front of a teacher like that.

“Everything’s  _ fine _ ,” Dan glared at the teacher before trudging out of the classroom with his belongings.

\-----

Arin felt a mesh of emotions all brewing within him. Yes, he was angry, why was Dan so fucking moody? Why did he go from holding Arin and stroking his hair to making up excuses so he didn’t have to tell him directly to fuck off? He was also just upset. Did he do something wrong? He was so fucking frustrated! Why did everything end horribly all the time?!

Arin was broken out of his thoughts by a hand on his shoulder, “Hey, don’t worry about it, kid. If you need a place to eat lunch I keep my classroom open. I usually get a pretty chill gang in here,” Mr. C gave Arin a lopsided smile, to which Arin returned with a grateful nod.

Turns out Mr. C was pretty popular among the school’s losers. Arin was pleasantly surprised to see Ross, the friend he’d made the previous year. There were a few more kids, too. There was Matt, a relatively popular kid most everyone knew for his obnoxious sense of humor, and Ryan, a quieter kid who no one had even seen till today, though he assured people he’d been at the school since freshman year.

Arin goofed off in the classroom all lunch period, any concerns about Dan falling to the back of his mind. When he was here doodling anime tiddies with Ross, making jokes with Matt, and coaxing conversation out of Ryan, things really didn’t seem to matter as much.

In fact, things were so good that Arin decided to go along with Matt and Ryan when they asked him to ditch the rest of the day and hang out with them.

\-----

Dan was, to put it simply, fucked. He was completely overwhelmed with emotions, so much to the point he’d literally started making notes. There he sat, perched on top of the dumpster lid, scribbling into a notebook.

_ arin _

  * _clingy_


  * kinda cute?


  * could become a loser


  * probably needs a friend


  * not scared of me



He tapped his pencil against the plastic dumpster lid and decided to list it into pros and cons.

_ pros _

  * _cute_


  * a friend besides brian



_ cons _

  * _outcasted because of me_


  * clingy



Dan found himself stuck on the last one.  _ ‘not scared of me.’ _

All his life others had been scared of him, he’d been treated like some kind of threat. And now, now some poor sophomore that just wanted a friend was finally treating him normally.

The thing is, Dan didn’t know  _ how  _ to be normal anymore. After so long being treated like dirt, being looked down on and feared by others, he couldn’t just waltz into a friendship and pretend everything was alright. The only reason Brian put up with him was because they’d been friends for  _ so damn long _ .

Dan crumpled up the paper and tossed it into one of the smaller trash bins in the clearing, stuffing his spiral notebook and pencil back into his bag. This was fucking useless.

Eventually the lunch period ended and Dan made his way to his next class, advertising. He was already preparing how he’d tell Arin that they couldn’t be friends, that earlier was a one-time thing just because Dan didn’t want Arin to hurt himself. He was wracking his mind for what he’d do if Arin didn’t respond well, how Dan would continue sharing three classes with someone who hated him, but when the bell had rang and everyone had settled into their seats, Arin was nowhere to be found.


End file.
